Lost Scrolls of Purgatorio: Unearthing the Epic Dante's Inferno Sequel We Never Got
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
IGN has unearthed extensive details, including a 240-page script, for the cancelled 'Dante's Inferno 2: Purgatorio' sequel, revealing a massively ambitious and narrative-driven hack-and-slash epic that would have re-imagined the Divine Comedy with huge plot twists, a gameplay focus on climbing and cinematic sequences, and even hinted at a world-changing third game, 'Paradiso'.
Right, mates, settle in, because this one's a proper digital archaeological dig. You know *Dante's Inferno*, Visceral Games' rather visceral hack-and-slash from 2010? The one where our Crusader boy Dante went full Kratos through the circles of Hell to rescue Beatrice? Well, it's hitting its 15th anniversary this year, and let's be fair, there haven't exactly been fireworks and confetti. It didn't quite become the 'zeitgeist-defining' blockbuster EA might've hoped for, meaning plans for a follow-up were, shall we say, unceremoniously yeeted into the abyss.
For yonks, the game's surprisingly chunky cult following (count me in, honestly) has been left wondering what the actual bloody hell would've happened next. Given the original was a *very* loose take on the first third of Dante Alighieri’s *The Divine Comedy*, you'd naturally assume a sequel would tackle Purgatory and then, finally, Paradise. But apart from some vague whispers about a Heaven vs. Hell kerfuffle, details of *Dante’s Inferno 2: Purgatorio* (or, the more elegant *Dante’s Purgatorio*) have been locked away tighter than my favourite rare NFT, fading into legend.
Until now, that is! Cue the dramatic music and a puff of smoke, because IGN, after some serious investigative wizardry and chatting with sources close to the project, has managed to pry open EA's digital vault. They’ve unearthed a treasure trove of previously unpublished internal documents – we're talking concept art, cutscene storyboards, screenshots of early level geometry (rudimentary, mind you, but still!), and the absolute pièce de résistance: a whopping 240-page script penned by *Assassin's Creed 2* co-writer Joshua Rubin. This bad boy lays out every single stage, boss battle, and plot point. Fair dinkum, this isn't just a glimpse; it's a full-on roadmap to a game that never was!
What this mountain of material shows isn't just that *Dante's Inferno 2* got further than anyone suspected, but also that Visceral planned to take it in a surprisingly fresh direction. The plot, for example, would've mashed up *The Divine Comedy* with John Milton’s *Paradise Lost*, giving Lucifer a morally ambiguous glow-up instead of just being thoroughly evil. And the design philosophy? Totally retooled. One former Visceral dev spilled the tea to IGN, saying, "The first game was heavily influenced by *God of War*. At the time we were working on the second [game], *Uncharted 2* was having a big influence on single player games: cutscenes and quick time events were being replaced with scripted gameplay sequences where the player has full control over the character." So, less arcade hack-and-slash, more cinematic adventure, creating "believable, natural environments," as original creative director Jonathan Knight put it.
Basically, Visceral wanted *Dante’s Inferno 2* to be its *Assassin's Creed 2* or *God of War 2018* moment – a sequel that absolutely blew its predecessor out of the water. We can't play it, sadly, but thanks to IGN's deep dive, we can absolutely *imagine* playing it. So, let's reconstruct this legendary campaign, shall we?
### The Complete Story: A Journey Through Purgatorio
**Level 1: Dream in Eden** The journey kicks off in the Garden of Eden, of all places. Dante wakes up next to Beatrice, cradling their baby girl. "Tell me this is real," he whispers, only for them to vanish. You'd then take control, calling out Beatrice's name, following her voice through an increasingly moody Eden. First boss? A giant black smoke snake. You'd fight to save Beatrice, only for her to revert to her corrupted Queen of Hell form from the first game, possessed by Lucifer himself. "You’re dead, Dante!" she'd snarl, and then, *poof*, you fall into a bottomless chasm. Proper nightmare fuel, that.
**Level 2: At the Shores of Purgatory** After a title sequence and a 'previously on...' montage, you're back at the end of the original game, Dante emerging from a cave, awestruck by Mt. Purgatory. Crucially, the cross-shaped tapestry he tears off his chest? It turns into a little red snake, representing Dante's *unforgiven sins*. Lucifer's not gone, mate; he's just using Dante's baggage as a backdoor! As Dante heads up the mountain to find Beatrice, he meets Cato, the Roman senator guarding Purgatory. Cato senses Dante's 'besmirched' by Hell, they clash, and then – *surprise!* – the red snake bursts from Cato’s mouth, splitting him and the beach, unleashing Lucifer’s demonic army. Cue Michael, the archangel, sending down angelic airships. Dante's caught in a holy war, fighting angels and demons, eventually facing Lilith, Lucifer's second-in-command, and taking her scythe. A nice little callback to the Death fight, eh?
**Pain and Prayer (The Gameplay Goo)** Our man Dante would still wield his trusty cross (holy blasts!) and a scythe, albeit a new one. The devs, knowing how much players loved the first game's 'Blades of Chaos'-esque scythe, wisely kept the core feel but added unique moves. Complementing this were new spiritual abilities: Spirit Jump, Possession, Spirit Dodge, Spirit Dash, and even angelic wings for boss fights. All powered by a 'Faith Meter,' letting Dante enter 'Spirit Mode' and turn all ethereal. Just as Lilith reports to Lucifer that it's all 'according to plan,' Saint Lucia, Dante’s guardian angel (from the first game's DLC!), swoops in to save Dante from a burning airship, teaching him Spirit Jump.
**Level 3: Ante-Purgatory** Once safe, Lucia drops a bombshell: Dante unknowingly helped Lucifer escape, but it’s all part of God’s grander plan to defeat Lucifer for good. The only problem? God forgot to clue in Michael, who's now sealing the Gates of Heaven, locking out both demons *and* worthy souls like Beatrice. Dante's new mission: get Beatrice to Eden before the gates slam shut. Lucia summons Virgil, freed from Limbo, to guide them. The stakes are high, the clock's ticking! They then face the multi-winged, spider-like Vicar of Saint Peter. Dante, against Virgil’s protests, kills the Vicar, putting them squarely on Heaven's hit list. Oops.
**Levels 4 and 5: Pride / Envy** Now, a rhythm sets in. Each terrace (themed after the Seven Deadly Sins) sees Dante and Virgil interacting with souls, some from Dante's past. Unlike Hell, Purgatory is about redemption. Dante also has to redeem himself. This means finding 'Vision Caves,' which Rubin envisioned as 'playable cutscenes' akin to immersive theatre. Dante, in Spirit Mode, relives his sins, battling grotesque personifications of them. After each cave, Lucia grants a power-up, and you get a moral choice. For example, on the Terrace of Envy, you could save an NPC to show compassion. Before leaving Envy, they're ambushed by Gabriel, the second archangel, who hasn't heard from God in ages and doubts Lucia's story. After a tag-team boss fight where Dante's spirit powers impress him, Gabriel converts, ordering his angels to help. Now we've got allies!
**Level 6: Wrath** On Wrath, they find Beatrice, still fuming about the first game (and gives Dante a punch, lovely). She grudgingly joins as Lucifer's army approaches. In this terrace's Vision Cave, Dante and Beatrice confront two painful memories: Dante's infidelity and Beatrice's spiteful agreement to marry Lucifer. Dante then fights and vanquishes Beatrice's Queen of Hell form for good. While heading to the next terrace, Gabriel offers a lift, but Uriel, *another* archangel, crashes the party. Uriel's figured out Michael and Gabriel haven't heard from God in ages, meaning all their orders were based on lies. Gabriel tries to explain, but Uriel, in a fit of rage, slices off his brother’s wings and head. Bloody hell! In the chaos, Dante runs into Lucifer. And here's the kicker: Lucifer isn't there to fight. He's there to thank Dante. Turns out, Dante's been Lucifer's unwitting pawn *the entire time*, from the moment he followed Beatrice into Hell. "Know the truth, Dante," Lucifer gloats. "It has always been I, guiding you... destroying everything you loved." Lucifer vanishes, leaving Dante alone and filled with doubt. Lucia finds him, but can't confirm or deny Lucifer's claims. Only faith remains. But is it enough?
**Moving Up Mountains (Traversal)** Traversal would've been a huge deal in this game. "Probably the most innovative and interesting thing we wanted to do with Purgatory... was the climbing," a former dev said. They wanted it to be better than *Uncharted* or *Tomb Raider*, with real vertigo and puzzles. Halfway through, Dante unlocks 'Angelic Architecture,' revealing hidden paths only visible to angels and redeemed souls. Sounds like a proper climb, that.
**Levels 7, 8, and 9: Sloth, Greed, and Gluttony** Dante reunites with Virgil (Lucia took Beatrice higher), only to find Lucifer’s forces have already taken over, turning these terraces into apocalyptic wastelands. In the demon camp, Lucifer casts out Lilith, who protested Uriel (now on the dark side, remember?) becoming second-in-command. Ouch. These terraces are all about big set pieces. In Sloth, Lilith, scorned, tries to kill Dante herself. The boss battle involves her tricking Dante into thinking she's innocent, before her demise. On the climb to Greed, you'd fight a gargantuan Phlegyas demon, climbing its body like a Titan in *God of War 3*, then exploding it, leaving a "Death Star"-sized hole in the mountain. In Gluttony, Virgil gets captured by vine-mouthed demons, imprisoned in a cage dangling from a corrupted Tree of Knowledge. You'd have to fight and restore the tree to save him.
**You and Me Against Hell (Co-op & Multiplayer)** Visceral also planned co-op and multiplayer, partly due to corporate pressure ("every game needed DLC and online play because companies were afraid of people selling their discs back to GameStop," quipped a former employee) and partly building on the *Trials of St. Lucia* DLC. While barely off the ground, these modes would've been angels-versus-demons, with players fighting for either side, even vague recollections of defending airships. A bit chaotic, but interesting.
**Level 10: Lust** On the final terrace, Lust, Dante and Virgil catch up to Lucifer’s army trying to breach Eden. After a final Vision Cave (complete with... *ahem*... a love-making QTE sequence, how very Dante!), Lucia arrives with an airship. But a furious Uriel reappears, throws his flaming sword, and Virgil takes the fatal blow. Dante then battles and kills Uriel, part of the fight taking place in the skies above Eden with Dante sprouting angelic wings. Epic!
**Level 11: The Garden of Eden** Uriel's dead, but Lucifer's forces press on. Dante helps the angels in a two-phase tower defence minigame (blasting demons with cannons, redirecting waterfalls) to buy time to find Beatrice. He finds her, but their reunion is interrupted by Michael, descending from Heaven. Dante begs Michael to keep the Gates of Heaven open, but Michael, feeling abandoned by God, refuses, grabs Beatrice, and orders his elite angels to kill Dante. As Eden burns, Lucifer appears, wielding a spear... with Saint Lucia's severed head on it. Crikey! Realizing the threat, Michael reluctantly agrees to let Beatrice pass if Dante defeats Lucifer. The final boss fight is a colossal, multi-stage aerial battle against an elemental Lucifer in the burning garden, like "Superman 2's aerial battle with General Zod." Dante eventually defeats Lucifer by possessing him and making him rip out his own guts with the scythe. He vanishes in black smoke.
As promised, Michael lets Dante and Beatrice through the Gates of Heaven. They see Paradise, take a breath, and then... Beatrice, to *everyone’s* surprise, slits Michael's throat! Smoke spews from her mouth, Lucifer rematerializes, thanks Dante for carrying out *his* plan, takes *his* scythe back, and kicks Dante off the edge of Paradise. Dante falls, all the way down to Lake Cocytus, where Lucifer was once imprisoned, now occupied by Uriel, the new traitor. Utterly defeated, Dante lies there until a golden light appears. Saint Lucia's spirit descends, whispering, "Don’t fear, Dante. Even this is part of God’s plan." Credits roll. What a cliffhanger, eh?
### Dante's Inferno 3: Paradiso - The Not-So-Complete Story
And it doesn't stop there! Another document revealed God’s *actual* plan: to destroy the corrupted Christian afterlife, tear down the 'overly bureaucratic' system administered by the angels, and establish a new order based purely on love. Rubin mentioned God wanted "everything torn down, and the only way to do that was to make a man fight his way through it all." The third game, *Paradiso*, would've seen the war spread to Earth, with Dante, joined by his daughter, invading Paradise with an army of people and angels to fight Lucifer and save Beatrice for the *final* time. Imagine that, a full trilogy!
Looking back, it's a bittersweet tale of lost potential. Rubin reckons it takes a whole game for a team to truly gel, and often, the magic really happens in the second game. But all that work wasn't for nothing. While *Dante’s Purgatorio* sits in limbo, the talented folks who worked on it carried those lessons to other projects: *Dead Space 3*, *Uncharted 3*, and even *God of War 2018*. So, in a way, the spirit of Dante's fight lives on, reborn in the very franchises that inspired it. A digital phoenix rising from the ashes of a cancelled sequel, if you will. Cheers to Tim Brinkhof over at IGN South Africa for digging up this absolute gem of gaming history! Find the full scoop at IGN South Africa, where Tim's written a corker of a piece.
Original article: IGN South Africa